A brief history of the Poetry Review

1973: Two poets in a barn-the magazine's humble beginnings: Poets Michael Egan and Tom O'Grady find fonts of lead type and printing blocks in an old horse barn in rural Maryland and buy them for a few dollars from the owner. They decide to set poems themselves, letter by letter- and perhaps even make their own paper-to publish limited edition chapbooks of poetry.

1975: First edition

~1977: grants from the VA arts commission

wins the NEA Editors' Prize

1978: publishes poems by Miklos Radnoti, an Eastern European poet murdered by the Nazis

Publishes translations of Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert -the first time in an American magazine

1980-82: interviews and essays on poetry by James Dickey, William Styron, Willie Morris, David Ignatow, Mark Strand and Louis Simpson are included in the magazine

1984: Seifert wins Nobel Prize for Literature

1985: Seifert and Louis Simpson awarded honorary degrees from H-SC

1985: College establishes a printing budget and poetry residency position

1990: 15th Anniversary Issue

2000: 25th Anniversary Issue and Celebration

2007: Board approves tenure-track position for new editor/poet-in-residence

2007: New Library Celebration Issue

2007: On October 31st, 2007, renowned poets Molly Peacock and X.J. Kennedy read from their works.